Lakers guard Wesley Matthews reached for an imaginary quiver, took an arrow, carried it, pulled it back and fired, the owner of one of the NBA’s most elaborate three-point rituals celebrating his last target on Friday night.
So he did it again. And again. And again.
Matthews, who started for the first time as Laker, drained all four triples that emerged in the third quarter, a perfect example of what the Lakers needed on a Friday night.
Find your moment, write down the things LeBron James will do and hope for the best.
With Anthony Davis out of the lineup because of a tight adductor muscle, starter Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was still out on the pitch due to an ankle injury and the wear and tear of games on consecutive nights, the Lakers needed their supporting players to enter the spotlight.
Due to Matthews’ bow and arrow, Montrezl Harrell’s relentless strength and James’s usual excellence, the Lakers held on for a 117-115 victory over the Chicago Bulls at the Staples Center.
Highlights of the Lakers’ 117-115 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night at the Staples Center.
They were a little lucky. Zach LaVine, who scored 38 points after an eight-in-eight match, swung the ball for a clean look with less than 10 seconds to go, but the potential green jumper didn’t fall and Chicago failed to grab the rebound. With the Bulls needing to miss, they were unable to track Dennis Schroder fast enough, the Lakers’ guard managed to dribble most of the time before making one of the two free throws with five tenths of a second remaining to seal.
It was a victory in which all 10 players on the rotation of Lakers coach Frank Vogel participated. Each Laker who played at least eight minutes scored at least six points
Schroder, who fought in the Lakers’ loss to the San Antonio Spurs the night before, attacked the ledge in the second quarter and scored nine points, helping to mitigate the damage done by LaVine and Coby White, who helped Chicago to a lead of 10 points.
Talen Horton-Tucker, 20, never shy away from catching the ball and leaving if he had the chance, continued to flourish like an ace outside the Lakers’ bench.
In the third quarter it was Matthews’ hot kick and in the fourth it was Harrell, flying to block a shot at one end and then hitting the defense and attacking Chicago for buckets at the other.
And it was super substitute Alex Caruso, who worked to extinguish White – he scored 10 consecutive points in one stretch and only four for the rest of the night – by dropping three points for the Lakers.
Although rarely used, Jared Dudley gave the Lakers a spark, diving for a lost ball, protecting the slippery sucker and wisely allowing time to save his team’s possession.
The Lakers’ makeshift lineups are probably here to stay this season, with COVID-related injuries, rest and absences almost guaranteed. While the hope is that Caldwell-Pope and Davis will be able to return to the team’s next game on Sunday in Houston, uncertainty is the safest guarantee when playing basketball in a pandemic, as Vogel likes to say.
Vogel said before the game that Caldwell-Pope should be back against the Rockets, while the team is not so sure about Davis.
“He was about 50-50. He wanted to see what it was like, ”said Vogel of Davis. “It was sore and tight today and I wanted to see how it felt when he was moving on the court and he really didn’t let up. So this is a cause for concern and we wanted to make sure that we play it safe. ”
In these situations, the Lakers hope to trust their depth and the moves they have made this off-season, in preparation for nights like Friday, when they are losing a star and without a starter.
Vogel did not reveal his initial lineup until 30 minutes before the game, adding Matthews and Markieff Morris as he moved Kyle Kuzma back to the second unit.
At the beginning of the season, Vogel said he hoped Kuzma would start normally when the Lakers are without James or Davis.
“It is based on confrontations,” said Vogel on Friday. “But we have that flexibility with Kuz, which is great. He is a very versatile player. “